Colorado emerging as favorite for five-star QB Julian Lewis

There is growing confidence that Colorado is the heavy leader for five-star quarterback Julian Lewis who de-committed from USC in recent days.

A decision could be coming within days.

Georgia and Indiana cannot be counted out for the Carrollton, Ga., standout who has reclassified to the 2025 class and has had a phenomenal senior season where he’s thrown for 2,842 yards with 40 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

In the newly-released five-star rankings, Lewis comes in at No. 6 overall.

The five-star quarterback had been committed to USC since August 2023 and cited his respect for coach Lincoln Riley’s success of developing Heisman Trophy winners and No. 1 overall NFL Draft picks.

Lewis visited USC numerous times and through his senior season even while others – mainly Colorado and Indiana – pursued him, he stuck with the Trojans.

The Hoosiers faded a little in his recruitment as he was expected to visit Bloomington on numerous weekends but it never came to fruition especially later in the season.

Lewis made a visit to Georgia this past weekend for the Tennessee matchup but the feeling by people there was that the Bulldogs were not going to be able to flip him.

Georgia has a commitment from four-star Ryan Montgomery and it’s pursuing Cal commit Jaron Sagapolutele and has offered Mississippi State pledge Kamario Taylor and Stanford commit Bear Bachmeier in its pursuit of a second QB in this class.

Colorado is now the frontrunner for Lewis, who has been to Boulder numerous times and over a period of months has grown to really appreciate numerous things about the program.

Coach Deion Sanders’ success in Year 2 has appealed to him as the Buffaloes are 8-2 and have a chance to play in the Big 12 championship with games remaining against Kansas and Oklahoma State.

Sanders’ staying power in Boulder – basically Lewis’ thinking that the coach will stay at Colorado following his sons Shedeur and Shilo along with Travis Hunter to the NFL has helped the Buffaloes here.

The five-star quarterback is also thoroughly impressed and comfortable with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and how he runs the offense plus his NFL coaching experience.

More five-star prospects are within striking distance of Colorado as well.

Five-star linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng and five-star offensive tackle Michael Carroll both visited in recent days and the Buffaloes are definitely serious contenders for both.

Ohio State four-star defensive end commit London Merritt was also back in Boulder recently and loved his trip as he’ll be making his final decision around National Signing Day in early December. USC four-star offensive line pledge Carde Smith said in recent days he’s genuinely torn between sticking with the Trojans or flipping to the Buffaloes.